The first night of camping was a success...actually got some sleep.
Though Jeff said he heard coyotes yipping near by....
I think they could have been trying on my bike gear and I wouldn't have noticed...

No room service or wake up calls this morning...

Here's the entirety of the campground...it was small but did the trick...$15 per site.

After another fantastic meal (breakfast) at the Northern Delight, we were off to the L'Anse aux Meadows park.

A recreation of the settlement...it was meant as a working camp to assess the area for possible settlement and supplies.

It amazing how far they traveled back then and how inventive they were.

We sat through the documentary and went on the free tour.
I would highly recommend doing both.

As we walked down the board walk we saw our first "real" moose of the trip....hard to believe given how many are supposed to be in the area.

Our tour guide told us that they get quite a few in the park, especially as hunting season gets closer....go figure.

Our guide explaining what was under the mounds and the history of the settlement.
Without him, it would have been just some uneven mounds of sod...

Nice views of the coast from the park...

This mound was the large house of Leif Ericson.

Aside from the history lesson, the recreated house was the best part.
I didn't realize how advanced Norsemen were and that they were primarily farmers first.
Their sod houses had an equivalent R value of 100 by today's standards!

There were also some resident "vikings" playing the part...this guy was the blacksmith who actually built a lot of the items on site.

Inside the main part of the house...

Typical Viking shield...the coverings were thought to hide the direction of the wood planks.

Turns out that at 6'3", I'm way too tall to be a Viking.
They averaged 5'8" which a foot taller than other people at the time..

They even had a loom to make cloth...

Blacksmith hut

After a couple hours at the park we were on our way...heading South toward Rocky Harbour.

Gros Morne was really cool to see...
We didn't have time to do any hiking but I definitely will be back.

Stopped along to way to check out the beach and this wrecked ship off in the distance.

I had my second get off on the bike this trip....a slow speed tip over in the sand.
Hurt my pride more than anything else...

The boat was out of St John's....not sure what happened...

The trees in this area certainly don't have any easy life....these one's looked like hell.

Coming into Rocky Harbour.

Tried to get a hotel room but the place was jumping for a Wednesday night.
Ended up staying at the Gros Morne RV campground.
It was a REALLY NICE campground.....$24 for our site.

After settling in, we went for supper at Jackie's...a smaller place nearby that served excellent food.

Stopped by one of the gift shops to get a few trinkets and then found another box of Iceberg's...

We polished them off around a campfire and settled in for the night.

Mother nature then treated us to a wicked thunder and lightening show.
Turns out that my $30 tent isn't as water proof as I had hoped...